FASTING with clear, caloric fluids (like apple juice)...for GI tract healing purposes

I did a cursory search on the forum for this and didn't find anything. This may be controversial because I understand weight loss is already a risk with ulcerative colitis.

Here's my theory.... My doctors confirmed that intestinal wounds (like ulcers) are especially tricky to heal because it is a warm, wet environment, and unlike a cut on your finger, you can't just put a bandage on the wound. Further complicating that -- and in fact the most challenging feature -- is that when the ulcers in the intestines might have started to heal they get torn up and opened by passing stool.

When I was on MoviPrep pre-colonoscopy and was just passing water (eventually almost clear fluid) through my intestines during bowel movements, I did not have any bleeding. So, here's the hypothesis based on my theory....

I would only consume clear fluids, with and without calories, for a week or two. That might give my intestinal ulcers causes by colitis a chance to heal, and maybe....drumroll.....problem solved?

Has anyone ever tried this and did it work to any degree?

1. Ulcers in the interstine are difficult to heal. IMHO, its wrong. May be your GI's idea makes sense to a layman's mind but my scientist's mind fails to buy it. Pepetic ulcers are healed without any issues, how so? In UC, if you look at pathophysiology, the cuase of ulcer is different, epithelial lining of your intestine is totally messed up. So colitis ulcer is not quite similar to a cut or bruise on your hand/finger. Nobody has figured it out, how to bring that messed up epithelial lining back to normal.

2. Prepping colonoscopy - Of course, you will just have water coming out. The reason, most of these medicines do only one job, increase peristaltic movement of your intestine, so that most of the solids in the intestine are out. First one or 2 rounds usually get all solids out of your intestine, all rest visit is just something like washing up the colon. If you managed to see your colonoscopy, you must have seen, it still doesn't clean up your intestine fully. There are still patches here and there.

So drinking clear fluids, in other words, will NOT help healing ulcers in anyway. Its the pathophysiology thats different. But your idea will make a perfect sense if your have peptic/gastric ulcers. Did I make my point clear?

If you still want to try it, try smoothies made using culture yoghurt.

Oh one more thing, may be people say that weight loss is risk in UC but I am UC patient for about 3.5 years now and have not lost a single kilo, true that I have changed my eating style completely, cutting out all junk and eating only when I need it rather than pleasure or timepass (like while wathicng movie etc).

mindstyle, many of us lose weight during bad flares. Even forcing myself to eat I went from about 145lbs to 120 in about a week. I'm now 133 and plan on staying that way XD

Doing this may not necessarily heal any ulcers or inflammation but it's a good break none the less on your bowels from time to time when flares are really bad.


:)